Recent progress in thin-film solar cells

Wilson, J. I. B.; McGill, J.; Weaire, D.

doi:10.1080/00018737800101404

Cited by 15 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…3. The values for samples of a-Si (H) and a-Ge (H) agree well with values in the literature (3,7). As the Ge concentration in the film is increased, the dark conductivity of undoped films remains essentially the same until the films become Ge-rich; at this point, the conductivity increases rapidly.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 88%

“…Hydrogenated amorphous silicon films have shown promise as a low cost photovoltaic material (1)(2)(3). It is believed the role of the H in the material is to remove states, such as dangling bonds, in the optical gap of the material, and reach a density of states of ~1016/ cm s. This property allows the Fermi level of the material to be manipulated by doping with less than 1% donor or acceptor atoms (3). Using doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon [a-Si(H)], p-n junctions can be fabricated.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Hydrogenated a ‐ Si x Ge1 − x : A Potential Solar Cell Material

Cretella¹,

Gregory²

1982

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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Hydrogenated amorphous silicon films have shown promise as a low cost photovoltaic material. Hydrogenation appears to decrease the density of defect states in the gap which then allows for doping with substitutional atoms in a manner analogous to crystalline silicon. For a concentration of hydrogen of about 20 atomic percent, the density of gap states is approximately 1016 cm -~, and the optical energy gap lies between 1.7 and 1.8 eV. Hydrogenated amorphous germanium prepared by a similar plasma glow discharge technique has an optical energy gap of 1.0 eV. By varying the ratio of the SiHJGeH4 reactants in the plasma, the related ratio of Si/Ge in the films is also changed. The change in energy gap with composition was found to be linear over the range between 1.0 and 1.8 eV, allowing the deposition of a film with an energy gap chosen to maximize the efficiency of a photovoltaic device exposed to the solar spectrum. Measurements of the conductivity and photoconductivity of both doped and undoped alloy films showed no remarkable departure from the behavior observed with hydrogenated amorphous silicon films. The infrared spectra, however, showed a smaller than expected contribution from Ge-H modes. Devices of p-i-n configuration on molybdenum substrates were used to evaluate the photovoltaic properties of these alloys. Although the deposition conditions have not yet been optimized with respect to obtaining pinhole-free material, small area devices of an alloy of composition a-Si0.TGe0.3(H) were measurable: As anticipated, the spectral response measurements showed a shift to longer wavelengths. The solar cell characteristics were found to be somewhat degraded compared to similar p-i-n a-Si(H) devices; spectral response measurements, however, indicated that the charge collection properties, i.e., ~ products and diffusion lengths, were comparable to those measured in a-Si(H). A possible'cause of the degraded open-circuit voltage and fill factor of the solar cell could be the i~terfaces between the various layers. These measurements indicate that a-SixGel_x(H) has potential as an improved solar cell material.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 88%

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confidence: 99%

Hydrogenated a ‐ Si x Ge1 − x : A Potential Solar Cell Material

Cretella¹,

Gregory²

1982

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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“…The cost of current solar cells still needs to be significantly reduced and the efficiency must increase substantially to enable wider implementation. Thin-film solar cells (TFSCs) may provide a viable pathway towards this goal because of the low materials and processing costs [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. A TFSC is made by depositing one or more thin layers (thin film) of photovoltaic materials such as copper indium diselenide [8], Gallium arsenide [9], organic polymer [10], titanium dioxide [11], zinc oxide [12], as well as amorphous [13] and polycrystalline silicon [14] on a substrate coated glass, metal, or plastic.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent Progress in Design of Plasmonic Thin-Film Solar Cells with Enhanced Efficiency

Si¹,

Qiu

Zhang³

et al. 2012

MATS

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Plasmonics is concerned with the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and conduction electrons at metallic/dielectric interfaces and has been a hot research area since 2000. Plasmonics is now attracting more research activities because a plasmonic nanostructure is one of the most promising candidates to serve as the light scattering and trapping agent to reduce the physical thickness of current solar cells while maintaining the optical thickness. In this patents review, we describe the basic mechanisms of plasmonic thin-film solar cells, summarize the common design and fabrication techniques, and discuss the future prospects.

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“…Lately, since the discovery that glow-discharge deposited amorphous silicon (a-St: H) can be successfully doped (8) there has been much interest in the potential use of this material in solid-state photovoltaic cells (9) [see, for example, the recent reviews by Gibson et aL (1{}) and Wilson et aL (11)]. a-Si:H has the advantage over c-St of ease of preparation and, because direct optical transitions dominate its absorption/reflection spectrum, it can be used in thin layers (~1~ compared to ,--1{)0~ for c-St).…”

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confidence: 99%